Shane Lowry has high hopes of adding to his major tally and securing a Ryder Cup return in 2025, despite having “pure hatred” for one of the courses on this year’s roster.
Lowry is back inside the world’s top 20 after a strong start to the season and has four top 10s in majors since his breakthrough success at The Open in 2019, where he produced a dominant six-shot win over Tommy Fleetwood at Royal Portrush.
The final men’s major of the year returns to the same Northern Ireland course this July, live on Sky Sports, while the US Open is back at Oakmont for the first time since Lowry squandered a four-shot lead during the final round of the 2016 contest
Quail Hollow Club hosts the PGA Championship, the venue where Rory McIlroy has won the Wells Fargo Championship four times and will be one of the favourites, with it also being the venue Lowry is least confident about challenging for major glory.
“Three out of four major venues this year I love,” Lowry told the Sky Sports Golf podcast. “I don’t even have a love-hate for Quail Hollow, it’s just a pure hatred for it! I’ve never had a good result there.
“Going back to Oakmont, it’s a course that I felt like I should have won the US Open that year. But I learned a lot from that and I felt like I used that at Portrush. Would I give Portrush for that? No, absolutely not, but I feel like maybe I should have two [wins].
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“I haven’t been back there [Oakmont] since 2016 and I feel like my game’s changed a lot for the better since then. That’ll certainly be a tournament that, if I go there with a little bit of confidence, feeling my game’s okay, you never know what could happen that week.”
Lowry’s consistency has seen him post top-25 finishes in three majors during each of the last four seasons, with the Irishman ending tied-sixth at the 2024 PGA Championship – having equalled the lowest round in major history on day three – before claiming a share of sixth at The Open.
Watch every birdie from Lowry’s record-equalling men’s major round as he shot a nine-under-par 62 at Valhalla
“I certainly don’t go to make up the numbers!” Lowry added. “If you ask me now at this stage of my career, the reason I put that work in is, wth all due respect to the other events on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, it’s all a build-up to the majors and the Ryder Cup.
“I have those five dates circled in my calendar and they’re the weeks that I want to perform my best. I just love the pressure of them, I love how difficult they are, and I love everything about them. I feel like a lot of my good performances over the last number of years have been in majors.
“I always say my two favourite weeks of the year are not even tournaments, they’re the week before The Masters and the week before The Open, because I love the build-up and getting ready for these tournaments.
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“I’m very fortunate that I have one, that I’ve got a Claret Jug in my house and I’d love to win one more [major]. If I was to win one more, I’m sure I’m going to be greedy and want one more after that as well!”
Listen to the full Shane Lowry interview on the latest edition of the Sky Sports Golf podcast, hosted every week by Jamie Weir. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Spreaker, while vodcast editions can be found on the Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel.
Lowry looks to kickstart a ‘good year’
Lowry heads into the Florida Swing having impressed at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last month, where he finished two strokes behind good friend Rory McIlroy in the PGA Tour Signature Event after a final-round tussle between the pair.
Highlights from the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where Rory McIlroy impressed to claim a two-shot victory in his first PGA Tour appearance of the year
“I don’t say it in a negative way about my own game, but I think when someone like Rory rocks up with his ‘A’ game, he’s impossible to beat,” Lowry admitted about his runner-up finish. “I do think he was very close that day. He played unbelievable golf.
“He had the ball on a string off the tee and just did everything right. He holds them great putts at the right time. I think, if anything, I was good for him that final round, maybe playing together. I sort of felt at times that it didn’t feel like we were going toe-to-toe for a big PGA Tour event on a historic venue.
Lowry made a hole-in-one at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am after Rory McIlroy made one earlier in the day
“My one goal was to try and not to hand him the tournament and make him win the tournament. I feel like I kind of did that. It was good to see him getting a win. I was disappointed for myself, but I’m still happy with my week. It’s hopefully going to kickstart a pretty good year for me.”
McIlroy’s victory at Pebble Beach was one of four European winners in a five-week stretch on the PGA Tour, with Lowry – looking to find his own success over the coming months and cement his place in Europe’s Ryder Cup squad this September.
Sky Sports reporter Jamie Weir heads to New York to find out what awaits Team Europe at the 2025 Ryder Cup
“I obviously want to be a part of it,” Lowry said about the prospect of playing at Bethpage Black, live on Sky Sports. “I don’t just want to be in the team – I want to be a part of a winning team and I want to be able to help the team.
“I think it’s going to be one of the great Ryder Cups of all time and I just hope Europe can come out on top.”
Watch Shane Lowry in action throughout 2025 live on Sky Sports. Lowry next features on the PGA Tour at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, live on Sky Sports Golf on Thursday from 4pm. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
